People in Georgia are voting for a new president Sunday in an election that will end the tumultuous 10-year rule of Mikheil Saakashvili.

Twenty three candidates are running for the office with Giorgi Margvelashvili, the candidate of choice for current Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, widely considered the front-runner.

Saakashvili’s choice to succeed him is David Bakradze, a former speaker of parliament. The third leading candidate, Nino Burjanadze, was part of the so-called Rose Revolution that brought Saakashvili to power.

Ivanishvili’s coalition beat Saakashvili’s party in parliamentary elections a year ago. The prime minister said he will step down next month and nominate a new prime minister, who under Georgia’s new parliamentary system will assume most of the powers previously held by the president.

Georgian officials have promised a free and fair election, and three leading Georgian non-governmental organizations say there has been an 80 percent drop in election law violations compared to the 2012 parliament vote.

The head of the Georgia mission for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Georgia was a “great example of the only peaceful transition due to elections in a former Soviet country.”

The constitution bars Saakashvili from running for a third term. He came to power during the popular uprising that forced President Eduard Shevardnadze to step down in 2004.

The pro-Western Saakashvili’s time in office has included economic reforms and efforts to fight corruption, but also a brief war against Russia and accusations of human rights abuses. [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: War and Conflict